"It's a deliberate decision. I don't want to move from club to club, running and looking for something. I have never done that in my career and don't want to do that now. Therefore I decided that it would be better for me to end my career."

The 37-year-old was selected by Pittsburgh in the first round (24th overall) of the 1995 NHL Draft. He left his native Russia to join the Penguins at the age of 20 and made his NHL debut on Oct. 1, 1997 vs. Los Angeles, scoring a goal in the game.

Morozov went on to play seven consecutive seasons with Pittsburgh from 1997-04, finishing with 84 goals, 135 assists and 219 points in 451 career regular-season games. He also skated in 39 postseason games for Pittsburgh, helping the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference Final in 2001.

Morozov's last three seasons in Pittsburgh were his most successful, as he played on a line with Mario Lemieux and Alex Kovalev.

Overall, Morozov represented Russia in seven World Championships and two Olympic Winter Games. He won silver in Nagano in 1998 and captained Team Russia in Vancouver in 2010.